Clay Holmes Stumbles in Rainy Series Finale

Game three against the Pirates was a wash for the Mets.

After taking the first two games of the series, the Mets’ bats fell flat on Wednesday evening, managing just six hits and failing to score a single run.

All eyes were on starter Clay Holmes, who had led the Mets to six straight victories in games he started. Making his first appearance on regular rest this season, there was curiosity within the organization about whether Holmes could sustain his early-season success. After a brief 15-minute rain delay, Holmes looked sharp early, retiring the top of the Pirates’ order in a quick 1-2-3 first inning.

Then came the rain. What had started as a light drizzle turned into a steady downpour in the second inning. Holmes battled through the elements, retiring the first two batters of the frame, but things quickly unraveled before the inning could close. A single, a wild pitch, and a two-run home run put the Mets in a 2-0 hole.

In the fifth, Holmes surrendered another two-run homer. He finished the sixth inning but not before raising his season ERA from 2.74 to 3.14.

So, what do we make of this outing? Was it the rain? The adjusted rest? Just an off night? Most likely, a mix of all three. That’s baseball.

Despite the struggles with the long ball – Holmes had allowed just one home run all season before Wednesday – he pitched reasonably well overall. He threw 19 first-pitch strikes and stayed aggressive in the zone, throwing 60 of his 90 pitches for strikes. His velocity dipped slightly during the rainiest innings but bounced back once conditions improved.

The key metric to watch here is WHIP. Holmes’ ERA jumped by 0.40, but his WHIP increased by just 0.01, a sign that he wasn’t giving up excessive traffic on the bases. He still ranks in the 93rd percentile in pitching run value, a testament to his effectiveness.

Before drawing conclusions about how Holmes performs on regular rest, let’s give him a few more outings to settle in, because sometimes, when it rains, it pours, and, unless you have an umbrella, sometimes you just have to admit defeat.

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